Scrubbing and drying machine for flexible sheets



y 1963 A. J. TlCE ETAL 3,098,249

SCRUBBING AND DRYING MACHINE FOR FLEXIBLE SHEETS Filed Oct. 23, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 a! 4 I flm'ow 0. Wane:

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3,093,249 SCRUBBTNG AND DRYENG MACHINE F011 FLEXIBLE HEETS Arthur J.Tice and Arnold 1). Wallace, Golden, Clo., assignors, by mesneassignments, to SMC Corporation, Denver, (1010., a corporation ofColorado Filed 0st. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 146,791 (Zlairns. (Cl. 15-4) This invention relates to a machine for washing, scrubbing and dryingflexible plastic sheets and is more particularly designed for removingthe score markings from the plastic bowling score cards as used inpresent bowling lanes and generally known as telescores.

Telescores are elongated transparent plastic cards with two alignedseries of game boxes printed thereon. The telescores are positioned overlight boxes and a light is projected upwardly therethrough to projectthe score on a screen as the game progresses. The players enter theirscores in the printed boxes with Wax crayon pencils. It is a ratherexpensive procedure to provide new telescores for each game and it is anexceedingly timeconsuming task to remove the markings therefrom.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an economical andhighly eflicient machine for use by bowling lanes into which a stack ofused telescores may be placed and which will rapidly and individuallyfeed the used telescores through a washing, scrubbing, drying andpolishing operation and rapidly return the used telescores in a clean,dry, renewed condition ready for instant reuse.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of theinvention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency.These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is hadto the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numeralsrefer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout thedescription.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan View of the telescore renewing machine of thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view thereof;

'FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the machine, taken onthe line 3-3, PIG. l; and

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken on the line 4-4, FIG. 3.

.The path of the telescores through the machine is indicated by thedash-dot-arrowed line in FIG. 3.

The machine is assembled in a box-like frame having a right side walland a left side wall 11 maintained in separated parallel relation by arear end wall 12 and a forward end wall 13. The bottom of the frame isclosed by a bottom plate 16. An inclined feed chute 14- extends inwardlyand downwardly between the side walls from the top of the rear end wall12 and an inclined delivery chute 15 extends inwardly and downwardlyfrom the end wall 12, below the chute 14, to the bottom plate 16.

A stack of telescores, indicated at 17, is held in place on the inclinedfeed chute 14 between guide strips 61 by means of a vertically movablegate 18 extending between two gate arms 19 pivoted to the side walls 10and 11, as shown at 26. A feed shaft 21 extends between the gate arms 19above the gate 18 and carries feed rollers 22 which rest upon theforward extremity of the uppermost telescore in the stack so thatcounter-clockwise rotation of the feed shaft 21 will cause the feedrollers 22 to sweep the uppermost telescore 17 forwardly into themachine. The feed rollers and the gate gradually descend as the stack oftelescores lowers.

The forward edge of the entering telescore strikes the downwardly movingside of a first guide roller 23 which forces it downwardly between thatroller and a second Efihbl lg Patented July 23, 1963 ice guide roller 24and against a third guide roller 25. The third guide roller 25 bends thetelescore and projects it rearwardly into the scrubbing portion of themachine.

The scrubbing portion of the machine employs a solution roller 26, thelower portion of which is submerged in a detergent solution 27 containedin a solution pan 23 extending between the side walls 10 and 11 and theforward end Wall 13.

The solution roller 26 normally contacts an upper scrubbing roller 29and feeds cleaning solution thereto. The upper scrubbing roller 29 alsonormally contacts a lower scrubbing roller 30 also immersed in thedetergent solution 27.

The telescore is forced by the grip of the guide rollers 24 and 25beneath the upper scrubbing roller 29 and over the solution roller 26thence over the lower scrubbing roller 3%) and between two wringer rolls31 and 32 so that the telescore is thoroughly scrubbed on both sides.

The wringer rolls feed the telescores between two flexible-edged wipersor squeegees 62 which wipe any excess solution drops from the surfaces.The squeegees extend between the side walls to which they are secured bymeans of suitable attachment screws 63. From the squeegees thetelescores enter between two traveling, absorbent belts 33 and 34 whichare trained about a pair of upper belt rollers 35 and a pair of lowerbelt rollers 36, respectively. An inclined drip plate 66 is positionedbelow the wringer rolls, squeegees and belts to return removed solutionto the solution pan 28.

The belts 33 and 34 feed the telescores against the downwardly rotatingside of an upper polishing roller 37 which bends them downwardly againstthe downwardly moving side of a lower polishing roller 38. The latterroller bends the telescores forwardly onto the delivery chute 15 andpiles them in the receiving box 39, as shown in FIG. 3.

The belt rollers 35 and 36 are formed of relatively solid rubber orresilient plastic. The feed rollers 22, the guide rollers 23, 24 and 25,the solution roller 26, the wringer rollers 31 and 32 and the polishingrollers 37 and 38 are preferably formed of a relatively thick softcylinder of sponge rubber or plastic foam or similar compressiblematerial so as to be relatively soft and resilient to prevent scratchingor marring of the telescores. The compressible cylinders are mountedupon and surround core shafts which for convenience in the drawing aredesignated by prime numbers corresponding to their respective rollernumbers. The polishing rollers 37 and 38 preferably have a largerdiameter than the belt rollers 35 and 36 so that they will move at agreater surface speed than the belts 33 and 34 to produce a frictionalor polishing effect on the telescores. The scrubbing rollers 29 aresponge rubber or plastic foam rollers covered with tufted fabric such ascarpeting so as to be solutionabsorbent and to produce a brushing orscrubbing effect. The belts 33 and 34 are formed from endless strips ofabsorbent fabric such as turkish toweling or similar tufted absorbentmaterial. The feed rollers 22 and the guide rollers 23, 24 and 25,rotate at a slower speed (say 30' rpm.) than the scrubbing rollers 29and 30, the belt rollers 35 and 36 and the polishing rollers 37 and 38(say 60 rpm.) so as to produce differential speeds between the surfacesof the traveling telescores and the scrubbing, drying and polishingroller surfaces.

The rollers may be driven in any satisfactory conventional manner. Asillustrated, they "are driven through suitable gears, chains and beltsfrom a conventional reduction gear drive motor mounted in the framebetween the side plates 10 and 11 and below the delivery chute 15. Themotor shaft projects outwardly through the right 3 side wall 10, asshown at 40 in FIG. 2, and terminates in a motor chain sprocket 42.

In the embodiment illustrated, an endless drive chain 41 extends fromthe motor sprocket 42 to a driven sprocket 43 on the shaft 31 of theupper wringer roll 31. The latter shaft is provided with a drive gear 44which meshes with a driven gear 45 on the shaft 32 of the lower wringerroll 32 to drive the latter in the opposite direction.

A chain drive sprocket 46 is also mounted on the shaft 32' to drive anendless transmission chain 47 which is trained round a sprocket 48 onthe shaft 36 of one of the lower belt rollers 36 thence round a sprocket49 on the shaft of the third guide roller 25 and thence over a sprocket50 on the shaft 29' of the upper scrubbing roller 29.

The drive sprocket 46 is of larger diameter than the driven sprocket 43so that the transmission chain 47 moves at higher linear speed than thedrive chain 41. The sprocket 49 is the same diameter as the drivesprocket 46 so that the rollers 25 and 32 move at the same speed. Thesprockets 48 and 50 are smaller than the drive sprocket 46 so that therollers 36 and 29 travel at a higher speed than the rollers 25 and 32.

Power is transmitted at 1 to 1 ratio from a drive gear 51 on the shaft25 to driven gears 52 on the shafts 23' and 24 of the guide rollers 23and 24. Power is transmitted at 1 to 1 ratio to the shaft 26' of thesolution roller 26 and to the shaft of the lower scrubbing roller 30from the shaft 29 through the medium of three intermeshed gears 53 onthese respective shafts.

The upper belt rollers are driven from one to one intermeshing gears 54on the shafts 35' and 36' respectively. The shaft 35 also carries achain sprocket 55 which drives, through the medium of short end-lesschain 56, a sprocket 57 on the shaft 37 of the upper polishing roller 37and a sprocket 58 on the shaft 38 of the lower polishing roller 38 torotate the two polishing rollers in the same direction.

The shaft 37 of the upper polishing roller also carries a belt pulley 59from which a flexible-crossed belt 60 extends round a belt pulley 64 onthe feed shaft 21 to drive the feed rollers 22 forwardly at theirbottoms. The side wall 10 has a vertical slot 65 for the feed shaft 21to allow the latter to rise and fall in correspondence with the heightof the stack of telescores on the feed chute 14.

In actual use the working elements would be preferably enclosed in aprotective cover which for the sake of clarity of illustration has notbeen shown since it forms no part of the invention. Other arrangementsof gears or belts or chains could be used by one skilled in the art totransmit the desired rotation to the various rolls.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described andillustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be variedwithin the scope of the appended claims, without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for cleaning the surfaces of flexible plastic sheetscomprising: an inclined feed chute for re ceiving a stack of saidsheets; means for feeding the sheets individually forward from saidstack; a pair of guide rollers receiving the sheets from said feedingmeans and directing them downwardly; a third guide roller receiving thesheets from said pair of guide rollers and directing them rearwardly; asolution roller; a first scrubbing roller receiving the sheets from saidthird guide roller and contacting one side of and urging the sheetsagainst said solution roller; a second scrubbing roller contacting theother side of said sheets and urging them against the first scrubbingroller; said scrubbing rollers operating at a greater peripheral speedthan said guide rollers, a pair of wringer rolls between which thesheets are received from said second scrubbing roller; a pair ofjuxtaposed absorbent belts between which said sheets are received fromsaid wringer rollers; means for driving said rollers to impart travel tosaid sheets; means for supplying cleaning solution to said solutionroller; and means for successively receiving and piling the sheetsreceived from said belts.

2. A machine for cleaning plastic sheets as described in claim 1 inwhich the means for supplying cleaning solution comprises a solution panpositioned below said solution roller to partially submerge said rollerin solution contained in said pan.

3. A machine for cleaning plastic sheets as described in claim 1 inwhich the means for receiving the sheets from said belts comprises afirst polishing roller positioned below the discharge of said belts androtating in a direction to bend the discharging sheets downwardly and asecond polishing roller positioned below the first polishing roller andreceiving and turning the sheets forwardly to a receiving receptaclebelow said rollers.

4. A machine for cleaning plastic sheets as described in claim 1 havinga pair of flexible squeegee blades positioned between said wringer rollsand said belts between which said sheets pass to exert a wiping actionon both faces of said sheets.

5. A machine for cleaning plastic sheets as described in claim 1 inwhich the means for feeding the sheets individually forward comprises agate arm pivoted at its rear extremity and extending forwardly at eachside of said stack of sheets; a gate plate extending between andsupported by said gate arms forwardly of and preventing forward movementof said stack; a feed roller journalled between said gate arms andresting upon the uppermost sheet in said stack to support said arms andgate plate; and means for rotating said feed roller forwardly at itsbottom to sweep the uppermost sheet forwardly over said gate plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,586,905 Leightlitner June 1, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 27,425 Great Britainof 1903

1. A MACHINE FOR CLEANING THE SURFACES OF FLEXIBLE PLASTIC SHEETSCOMPRISING: AN INCLINED FEED CHUTE FOR RECEIVING A STACK OF SAID SHEETS;MEANS FOR FEEDING THE SHEETS INDIVIDUALLY FORWARD FROM SAID STACK; APAIR OF GUIDE ROLLERS RECEIVING THE SHEETSD FROM SAID FEEDING MEANS ANDDIRECTING THEM DOWNWARDLY; A THIRD GUIDE ROLLER RECEIVING THE SHEETSFROM SAID PAIR OF GUIDE ROLLERS AND DIRECTING THEN REARWARDLY: ASOLUTION ROLLER; A FIRST SCRUBBING ROLLER RECEIVING THE SHEETS FROM SAIDTHIRD GUIDE ROLLER AND CONTACTING ONE SIDE OF AND URGING THE SHEETSAGAINST SAID SOLUTION ROLLER; A SECOND SCRUBBING ROLLER CONTACTING THEOTHER SIDE OF SAID SHEETS AND URGING THEM AGAINST THE FIRST SCRUBBINGROLLER; SAID SCRUBBING ROLLERS OPERATING AT A GREATER PERIPHERAL SPEEDTHAN SAID GUIDE ROLLERS, A PAIR OF WRINGER ROLLS BETWEEN WHICH THESHEETS ARE RECEIVED FROM SAID SECOND SCRUBBING ROLLER; A PAIR OFJUXTAPOSED ABSORBENT BELTS BETWEEN WHICH SAID SHEETS ARE RECEIVED FROMSAID WRINGER ROLLERS; MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROLLERS TO IMPART TRAVEL TOSAID SHEETS; MEANS FOR SUPPLYING CLEANING SOLUTION TO SAID SOLUTIONROLLER; AND MEANS FOR SUCCESSIVELY RECEIVING AND PILING THE SHEETSRECEIVED FROM SAID BELTS.